Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives $130.07 Average Target Price from Analysts

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.07.

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $118.77 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.43. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $206.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after acquiring an additional 488,764 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.